Any wonder that Mother’s Day is like the 4th of July, while in comparison, Father’s Day is like Flag Day? Florists can’t keep up with the flowers, chocolates are sold out, restaurants have long waiting times, and long distance calls to Moms melt the phone lines. It is advertised for weeks upon weeks as Hallmark Cards makes a fortune.

On the other hand, Father’s Day is known for bad ties, new shorts, and bar-be-cues by dads that think they are the only ones that know how to do it. There is much less time to build up for Father’s Day because it closely follows Mother’s Day. While I was trying to get book signings and publicity for my book on Dadhood, I found no one could even begin to think of Father’s Day until Mother’s Day had passed. I understood!It was predicted that consumers would spend 7.4 billion dollars less for Father’s Day than they did for Mother’s Day. The National Retail Federation estimated that shoppers will spend an average of $115 for gifts for fathers this year. (I think I’ve been getting shorted!) That’s much less than the $173 that was spent for mom on Mother’s Day this year. In general, mothers really deserve the extra attention! When it comes to parenting, most moms are the heavy hitters while there are some dads who are more like pinch hitters. Of course there are exceptions but women, in general, are much more dedicated to their children than men. By more dedicated, I mean more observant, more understanding, and more in tune with their children. Nature and tradition has provided women with certain nurturing skills men often lack in raising children. None-the-less, dad’s deserve more recognition on Father’s Day. If were up to me, I’d drop Father’s Day and celebrate Dad’s Day. Becoming a father is a biological act, often done without thinking or caring, while being a Dad is a career! It’s a very tough, demanding, but lucrative career where you are rewarded with love, satisfaction and beautiful memories. More often than not, you can eventually be promoted to granddad! And that is grand indeed! While mere fathers are overshadowed by mothers, dads can often overshadow moms. Dads are more noticed by their children for the sometimes small, but important things they do while the hard work moms perform can be taken for granted. Moms can tell you this. I wrote about this in an earlier article, “Mothers are Soil, Fathers are Rain”. While both are equally necessary to raise a crop of children, the rain is noticed more, even though the soil is where children's roots exist.So while history proves that mothers are the stars of parenting. It also proves that dads are an integral part of raising healthy children. If as many ‘fathers’ were ‘dads’, as ‘mothers’ are ‘moms’, we would have a much better world with happier, healthier, and safer children.So Happy Dad’s Day to all you dads out there. Thanks for being responsible for the lives you have brought into this world!

Heard you on KWMU today, and was fascinated by how similar my story is to yours. I'm a 38 year old man, the oldest sibling of a disengaged alcoholic father. I graduated from college and was a lost boy for a long time. It took years, but I finally do know myself, and once that happened, I was ready to be responsible for someone else. I started small. I thought, "If I can take care of this house plant, then maybe I'll graduate on to a fish." I got the fish, and that eventually led to a greater responsibility... a cat. Fast forward, and now I'm happily 5 years married with a 2 and a half year old son and a daughter on the way. Life is good, and I'm grateful I made it out of the cycle of so many fathers before me. I ordered your book, because I'm always looking for advice on how to be a better dad.

Wow Micah! Thanks for writing. I too was lost for years. It's difficult to explain. There was a period when I was an Air Force pilot where I thought I had arrived, but I didn't capitalize on it because I didn't know how. It took me a while to get locked in. The lesson is that there are some people that look like they haven't been affected, but they are. Lacking a good father can do that!
Congratulations on where you are today and pushing through! And thanks for ordering my book! I hope it helps you.

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